Develop Bugs

touching files in recovery mode results in factory reset

A week ago I flashed the current (lineage-14.1-20170504-nightly-oneplus3-signed.zip) lineage os nightly to my phone. I did not pay that much attention til I realize the impact, so no guarantee for the temporal order. I am pretty shure, that in the first place, I tried to flash the image via the update menu (is this called OTA update?). The previous update two weeks ago already results in partial data los. By this I mean some (maybe all) apps disappears after the update, but after installing them again, all of them provided the pre-update data - only exception was signal. This time the phone was like in factory state. But when I try to reinstall the telegram app - the app store refuses to install the app because of the presence of a identical named app.
Using adb shell shows me, that all apps and data where still present in the /data subdirectories. Even those I didn't had reinstalled til that time . So I took advantage of momentum and backed up some files and decided to perform a full pre factory reset formatting everything twrp let me format. After flashing the lineage update, another full format because things seems still weird, second lineage nightly flash, realizing I have to first flash OOS-x.y.z and a final third lineage flash, I thought I finally obtain a running system. After initial configuration I decided to only copy my previous wpa_supplicant.conf file back to the system. Since overwriting this file while running android didn't led to anything, I tried to replace this file in recovery mode. Instead of remembering my password, goatish oneplus 3 desides to perform factory reset.
After what seems to be a lower six digit number of flashing attemps I came to the conclusion that performing any modification to the file system while the native kernel is not running results in factory reseting the device. In the mean time I also figured out what dm-verity means - an error message I got used to and maybe a nice feature as long as you don't try to take your old config files to a new system. And I know I am the millionth person facing that problem in a dedicated thread, but I found nothing which links this annoying boot loader message to my reset problem.
I made my previous recovery attemps between the toilet and my bed, so I hadn't any strategy at all. But thank god its friday! I read: dm-verity is a feature of the device mapper which guarantees data integrity. When I alter the data using any other than the native system, the device mapper notices the integrity violation and reports to the system. I am only guessing that this makes the system to reset itself - Am I right? Even if I appreciate this concept, I think this might be a little too ambitious. Can I alter androids behaviour in this point? In the best case I want to temporary disable this feature, do some root stuff and turn it on again. Is this possible?
I could follow one of that numerous tutorials to remove that dm-verity message, but I am not confortable with flashing zip files from dubious file hosters as well as copy-pasting commands without any idea of what I am doing. So maybe someone could provide a little more information than the seven step recipe of getting rid of that error message blog posts.
I really appreciate material which explains my problem. I am quite new to android and I didn't figured out how to maneuver around all these google results which tells me to install a specific app which may will hide my problem. So thank you in advance.

hinerk0815 said:
A week ago I flashed the current (lineage-14.1-20170504-nightly-oneplus3-signed.zip) lineage os nightly to my phone. I did not pay that much attention til I realize the impact, so no guarantee for the temporal order. I am pretty shure, that in the first place, I tried to flash the image via the update menu (is this called OTA update?). The previous update two weeks ago already results in partial data los. By this I mean some (maybe all) apps disappears after the update, but after installing them again, all of them provided the pre-update data - only exception was signal. This time the phone was like in factory state. But when I try to reinstall the telegram app - the app store refuses to install the app because of the presence of a identical named app.
Using adb shell shows me, that all apps and data where still present in the /data subdirectories. Even those I didn't had reinstalled til that time . So I took advantage of momentum and backed up some files and decided to perform a full pre factory reset formatting everything twrp let me format. After flashing the lineage update, another full format because things seems still weird, second lineage nightly flash, realizing I have to first flash OOS-x.y.z and a final third lineage flash, I thought I finally obtain a running system. After initial configuration I decided to only copy my previous wpa_supplicant.conf file back to the system. Since overwriting this file while running android didn't led to anything, I tried to replace this file in recovery mode. Instead of remembering my password, goatish oneplus 3 desides to perform factory reset.
After what seems to be a lower six digit number of flashing attemps I came to the conclusion that performing any modification to the file system while the native kernel is not running results in factory reseting the device. In the mean time I also figured out what dm-verity means - an error message I got used to and maybe a nice feature as long as you don't try to take your old config files to a new system. And I know I am the millionth person facing that problem in a dedicated thread, but I found nothing which links this annoying boot loader message to my reset problem.
I made my previous recovery attemps between the toilet and my bed, so I hadn't any strategy at all. But thank god its friday! I read: dm-verity is a feature of the device mapper which guarantees data integrity. When I alter the data using any other than the native system, the device mapper notices the integrity violation and reports to the system. I am only guessing that this makes the system to reset itself - Am I right? Even if I appreciate this concept, I think this might be a little too ambitious. Can I alter androids behaviour in this point? In the best case I want to temporary disable this feature, do some root stuff and turn it on again. Is this possible?
I could follow one of that numerous tutorials to remove that dm-verity message, but I am not confortable with flashing zip files from dubious file hosters as well as copy-pasting commands without any idea of what I am doing. So maybe someone could provide a little more information than the seven step recipe of getting rid of that error message blog posts.
I really appreciate material which explains my problem. I am quite new to android and I didn't figured out how to maneuver around all these google results which tells me to install a specific app which may will hide my problem. So thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your story is too long to go through. But most likely your issue will be solved if you install blue sparks twrp. Check his thread in the unified section

Brother Passed Away - In Need of Help Bypassing PIN/Encrypted Partition

Hello dev's! Unfortunately, in January, my brother passed away, and I have been tasked with trying to get into his phone and recover any important images really to pass along to his wife and daughter. Needless to say, I don't know his PIN code - and I am down to 2 guesses before the phone is wiped. So here I am.
Pardon my lack of technical language here but my brother did install Team Win Recovery Project 3.1.1-0 so I have been able to get to "recovery mode". Unfortunately, his partition is encrypted and I have been unable to guess that password either.
Because his drive is encrypted, I can't get into /data to remove any .key files. I have successfully been able to figure out how to sideload zip files via ADB that are supposed to bypass the PIN screen but I have had no luck. The google "find my phone" method is not working probably because the phone isn't connecting to a network.
I have read through an alpha security post about a malicious charger hack but I don't see where to download that tool.
So - does anyone know of any possible application or ZIP file I can sideload that will either help remove the decryption password or completely and successfully bypass the PIN?
Can I update TWRP to a newer version in hopes that the encryption is removed?
Any help is appreciated!

FWIW, my brother was on these forms as Colomonster - and I know that he loved tinkering with his phone daily.

There's no efficient way of breaking the data partition if it's encrypted, sorry.

Any old version of twrp might do the trick and then in /data/system folder delete these files ( if they are there )
password.key
pattern.key
locksettings.db
locksettings.db-shm
locksettings.db-wal

@catsruul I figured this would be the case but it does look like I get inifinite guesses, so there’s always that
@cpt.macp thanks for this tip! Can I downgrade via sideloading? I’ll have to look up a tutorial.. thanks!

You said any important photos correct?
https://support.google.com/accounts/troubleshooter/6357590?hl=en
I assume that your brother used Google Photos and any photos he took were most likely backed up to that. You can talk to Google about retrieving said data, you will need to prove things of course though. You will need to get a court order issued, that is if it is even approved, and everything else required should be on that page. Best of luck! Sorry to say but if the /data is encrypted you are pretty much screwed, although TWRP should decrypt in when it enters recovery so idk. That webpage is your best shot imo.

thanks @ZVNexus for the tip. I do have access to his Google account but because my brother was a super sleuth, he didn't have his images automatically upload to his photo drive. the photos that are there are few and from 2015
With access to his account, I do see his "activity", which I am not even sure he knew was being tracked (oh Google!) and I see that he used things like
Code:
Used com.android.gallery3d
and
Code:
Used org.cyanogenmod.snap
both of which look like photo apps.
you mentioned that TWRP should decrypt when I enter recovery.. what do you mean by that? if it is encrypted then it should always ask for a password right?
I wonder if this app is available anywhere for download and use.
HTML:
https://alephsecurity.com/2017/03/26/oneplus3t-adb-charger/

Lonoshea said:
thanks @ZVNexus for the tip. I do have access to his Google account but because my brother was a super sleuth, he didn't have his images automatically upload to his photo drive. the photos that are there are few and from 2015
With access to his account, I do see his "activity", which I am not even sure he knew was being tracked (oh Google!) and I see that he used things like
Code:
Used com.android.gallery3d
and
Code:
Used org.cyanogenmod.snap
both of which look like photo apps.
you mentioned that TWRP should decrypt when I enter recovery.. what do you mean by that? if it is encrypted then it should always ask for a password right?
I wonder if this app is available anywhere for download and use.
HTML:
https://alephsecurity.com/2017/03/26/oneplus3t-adb-charger/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant that even if the chip was encrypted TWRP should have let you touch the data partition. My phone is also encrypted but TWRP allows me to touch those partitions. Strange. Hopefully others can help.

Lonoshea said:
Hello dev's! Unfortunately, in January, my brother passed away, and I have been tasked with trying to get into his phone and recover any important images really to pass along to his wife and daughter. Needless to say, I don't know his PIN code - and I am down to 2 guesses before the phone is wiped. So here I am.
Pardon my lack of technical language here but my brother did install Team Win Recovery Project 3.1.1-0 so I have been able to get to "recovery mode". Unfortunately, his partition is encrypted and I have been unable to guess that password either.
Because his drive is encrypted, I can't get into /data to remove any .key files. I have successfully been able to figure out how to sideload zip files via ADB that are supposed to bypass the PIN screen but I have had no luck. The google "find my phone" method is not working probably because the phone isn't connecting to a network.
I have read through an alpha security post about a malicious charger hack but I don't see where to download that tool.
So - does anyone know of any possible application or ZIP file I can sideload that will either help remove the decryption password or completely and successfully bypass the PIN?
Can I update TWRP to a newer version in hopes that the encryption is removed?
Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm confused: if the partition is encrypted, you will generally be asked for a password during the boot process. If you're unable to enter the correct password (which AFAIK has unlimited tries), the phone simply won't boot. So you will never arrive at the lockscreen where you're supposed to enter the PIN (which offers a number of tries before wiping). With an encrypted partition, entering the recovery will prompt you for the same password you're supposed to enter during the boot process. Again, unlimited tries. As long as you're unable to do that the partitions will be 'invisible'. You can still wipe/partition them and that will remove the encryption as well as all of your data. But it seems the device you're working on works differently?
Either way: in order to gain access, you will need to either know the PIN directly (if the phone boots without a boot password) or gain access to the encrypted partition through TWRP, allowing you to remove the files responsible for the PIN lock. I'm sorry for your loss, but if it would work in any other way it simply wouldn't be secure for any Android user out there who is using encryption. Even google shouldn't be able to decrypt the phone, though it's theoretically possible they do have some kind of backdoor.
At this point, your best bet is probably trying to brute force the partition password. That would probably take a very long time, but I'm sure there's tools and organizations specializing in that sort of work.

unable to backup data on twrp

Hello everyone, today while trying to do backup in twrp, I am continuously getting the error message as "createTarFork() process ended with ERROR: 255
Backup Failed.". I tried some solutions mentioned in the forums, but they seem to be having error with different folder. In the log I found that there is error in opening webviewgoogle, but I couldn't found that folder anywhere.
Invalid encryption mode 'ice:aes-256-cts'
Backing up System...
Invalid encryption mode 'ice:aes-256-cts'
Error opening: '/system/app/WebViewGoogle' (Structure needs cleaning)
I:Error in Generate_TarList!
Error creating backup.
I used codeworkx and Blu spark twrp and both seems to have the same issue. Kindly help me in doing a backup. Thanks in advance.

I use blue spark and the copy does it well but restoring a backup gives me an error because I can not mount the system and I also get the phrase that the system needs to be cleaned ... By when a functional twrp???

Princeland said:
I use blue spark and the copy does it well but restoring a backup gives me an error because I can not mount the system and I also get the phrase that the system needs to be cleaned ... By when a functional twrp???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just skipped the back up and did format the data and clean installed the ROM and it worked. Earlier I was unable to restore due to mount system error but I just clicked the system in advanced->mount in twrp and restore the old backup...

Try deleting all paralell apps under the apps Section

galaxy s4 nutjob said:
Try deleting all paralell apps under the apps Section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not related to parallel apps. I checked this one already.

I had this problem a couple weeks ago:
So the first thing you do to fix the system partition not mounting is to download this tool: https://androidfilehost.com/?a=show&w=files&flid=38683
Tool looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/04L1h9b.png
Step one: Install drivers. Should be straightforward.
Step two: Make sure you device is connected. It detects it in fastboot and everything just press the refresh button a couple of times. In this case you're best off starting in fastboot mode.
Step three: Erase all data / Decrypt internal storage. https://i.imgur.com/2HZN1jK.png
Step four: Flash twrp. Make sure to select your device in the dropdown list. Then select recovery flasher and flash the one shown in screengrab. https://i.imgur.com/80N32db.png
Step five: reboot into recovery and flash what ever you want.
This tool is extremely usefull and quite timesaving. Make sure you explore it's features.
Note: I do not own the tool nor do I know the dev.
Happy to help

pinnekeshaar said:
Step three: Erase all data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously, every time I read this, I think to myself, what sort of a pure evil person may hide behind such a malevolent advice?
Really, what's wrong with you, man? Were you, like, tortured as a child? Your loved ones murdered?
To give this sort of advices to people who want to god damn it BACKUP (that means, save and protect, not erase) their data.

lockywolf said:
Seriously, every time I read this, I think to myself, what sort of a pure evil person may hide behind such a malevolent advice?
Really, what's wrong with you, man? Were you, like, tortured as a child? Your loved ones murdered?
To give this sort of advices to people who want to god damn it BACKUP (that means, save and protect, not erase) their data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I guess you've been right on time with your part of the advice. You know, three months later. Also, some people have brains and can think of the fact they need to backup their stuff before deleting everything.

Three months later I found this thread in Google.
And also, just in case, the thread is exactly about making backups.

Bricked Phone After Magisk Install

Today, my phone got bricked after I installed Magisk, am i am looking for a way of sorting it out. The phone was running Android 9 DP3 when rooted, and I was following HighOnAndroids root guide on Youtube for reference,
I unlocked my bootloader and successfully installed TWRP. After this, I installed Magisk, which went throuygh perfectly fine. However, after rebooting the phone, I am stuck on the google splash screen, with a small progress bar that stays for the duration of the time on this screen. After about 2 minutes, the phone reboots into TWRP again.
Does anyone know how I could return to stock Android or at least escape this issue?
Many thanks
James

Jameswebb97 said:
Today, my phone got bricked after I installed Magisk, am i am looking for a way of sorting it out. The phone was running Android 9 DP3 when rooted, and I was following HighOnAndroids root guide on Youtube for reference,
I unlocked my bootloader and successfully installed TWRP. After this, I installed Magisk, which went throuygh perfectly fine. However, after rebooting the phone, I am stuck on the google splash screen, with a small progress bar that stays for the duration of the time on this screen. After about 2 minutes, the phone reboots into TWRP again.
Does anyone know how I could return to stock Android or at least escape this issue?
Many thanks
James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use duces script to flash June google factory image.

jlokos said:
Use duces script to flash June google factory image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the guide on the DeucesScript XDA page but the command window keeps saying "'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."

Jameswebb97 said:
I followed the guide on the DeucesScript XDA page but the command window keeps saying "'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need this information (the stuff I made bold + the hyperlink):
Code:
If you are having issues with this script:
Download the latest fastboot and adb Platform Tools UPDATED Dec. 22, 2017!!! This is the most common problem!!!
Download/Update Google USB Drivers
Video: Force-Installing the Android USB Drivers Fastboot & ADB
[B]Verify you have the [URL="https://wiki.lineageos.org/adb_fastboot_guide.html"]environment variable (path)[/URL] set for adb and fastboot[/B]
Try a different USB port
Try a different cable
Format Userdata in Stock Recovery
Try to boot stock before doing mods like Locking Bootloader / Kernel / TWRP / Magisk

Jameswebb97 said:
I followed the guide on the DeucesScript XDA page but the command window keeps saying "'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
umph....hate to tell you, but you have a long way to go...
so before going on this "journey", I would suggest you booting into TWRP again, and try installing (not adb sideloading, just in case you're doing that) Magisk again. Also, be sure you are using the latest (might be considered "beta") 16.4 for taimen... I'm thinking your boot.img or dtbo.img simply may have gotten glitchy and repatching (by installing Magisk again) might fix it...
Also, if you want to go a step further, you might want to consider using the official Magisk uninstaller. Since Magisk makes a copy of your stock boot and dtbo image, it may put that back so you can get it in working order to get into the system (although without root), and then figure things out and/or reinstall Magisk (through TWRP is best) while all things Magisk was removed...
Good luck and hope this helps....

Make sure you are trying to open from the correct location, and put .\fastboot

EvilDobe said:
You need this information (the stuff I made bold + the hyperlink):
Code:
If you are having issues with this script:
Download the latest fastboot and adb Platform Tools UPDATED Dec. 22, 2017!!! This is the most common problem!!!
Download/Update Google USB Drivers
Video: Force-Installing the Android USB Drivers Fastboot & ADB
[B]Verify you have the [URL="https://wiki.lineageos.org/adb_fastboot_guide.html"]environment variable (path)[/URL] set for adb and fastboot[/B]
Try a different USB port
Try a different cable
Format Userdata in Stock Recovery
Try to boot stock before doing mods like Locking Bootloader / Kernel / TWRP / Magisk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive tried all of this now, i got the script working, but now the phne says it is corrupt and i cannot get into recovery. Is this game over do you think?

simplepinoi177 said:
umph....hate to tell you, but you have a long way to go...
so before going on this "journey", I would suggest you booting into TWRP again, and try installing (not adb sideloading, just in case you're doing that) Magisk again. Also, be sure you are using the latest (might be considered "beta") 16.4 for taimen... I'm thinking your boot.img or dtbo.img simply may have gotten glitchy and repatching (by installing Magisk again) might fix it...
Also, if you want to go a step further, you might want to consider using the official Magisk uninstaller. Since Magisk makes a copy of your stock boot and dtbo image, it may put that back so you can get it in working order to get into the system (although without root), and then figure things out and/or reinstall Magisk (through TWRP is best) while all things Magisk was removed...
Good luck and hope this helps....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good advice, thanks. i have a new problem (ugh), where i got the script working through changing the paths, but now the phone says that it is corrupt and i cannot access TWRP. Game over?

Jameswebb97 said:
Ive tried all of this now, i got the script working, but now the phne says it is corrupt and i cannot get into recovery. Is this game over do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the unlocked bootloader it'll always say the device is corrupt. Manually put the device into the bootloader & flash the DeucesScript. You're basically starting over at this point but it is possible to get up & going again.

Jameswebb97 said:
This is good advice, thanks. i have a new problem (ugh), where i got the script working through changing the paths, but now the phone says that it is corrupt and i cannot access TWRP. Game over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EvilDobe said:
With the unlocked bootloader it'll always say the device is corrupt. Manually put the device into the bootloader & flash the DeucesScript. You're basically starting over at this point but it is possible to get up & going again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EvilDobe might be right...but I have a bit to offer before maybe starting all over...
I doubt you needed to edit the script and "change the paths." Most likely you merely did not have the images (you extracted from the .zip of the Full Factory image you got from the Google Developers site) inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders.
In any case, I suggest you get the TWRP image file [.img] (NOT the installer .zip necessarily), put the .img file "... inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders." (I've seen some users simply cut and paste those 2 .exe files only to the extracted folder -- this is why I state it this way) Then, power down your device. After it's off, hold down the Volume Down button and press & hold the Power button (this is the manual way to get into the Bootloader Mode). Once there, plug your phone into your computer (USB-A to USB-C would be best) and open a command prompt/powershell ("run as administrator" or with administrative priveleges) and direct it to the platform-tools folder (i.e. if I put it on my desktop, it would be "C:\Users\MyName\Desktop\platform-tools"), you can temporarily boot into TWRP via command
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.1-2-taimen.img
When in TWRP (hopefully), I suggest trying to do what I advised before -- try either Magisk installer to repatch the boot and dtbo image, or Magisk Uninstaller to attempt to replace your boot and dtbo to stock.
*NOTE: Of course, this is assuming you are running Microsoft Windows (if not, you will need to input .\ as @naiku suggested) and also the whole "device is corrupt" is due to "funky" boot image issues. If not, I/we can guide you to flashing the Full Factory back onto the phone (hopefully without losing data and settings)...
Good luck and hope this helps...

simplepinoi177 said:
EvilDobe might be right...but I have a bit to offer before maybe starting all over...
I doubt you needed to edit the script and "change the paths." Most likely you merely did not have the images (you extracted from the .zip of the Full Factory image you got from the Google Developers site) inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders.
In any case, I suggest you get the TWRP image file [.img] (NOT the installer .zip necessarily), put the .img file "... inside the "platform-tools" folder with the adb & fastboot .exe and all the other files and folders." (I've seen some users simply cut and paste those 2 .exe files only to the extracted folder -- this is why I state it this way) Then, power down your device. After it's off, hold down the Volume Down button and press & hold the Power button (this is the manual way to get into the Bootloader Mode). Once there, plug your phone into your computer (USB-A to USB-C would be best) and open a command prompt/powershell ("run as administrator" or with administrative priveleges) and direct it to the platform-tools folder (i.e. if I put it on my desktop, it would be "C:\Users\MyName\Desktop\platform-tools"), you can temporarily boot into TWRP via command
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.1-2-taimen.img
When in TWRP (hopefully), I suggest trying to do what I advised before -- try either Magisk installer to repatch the boot and dtbo image, or Magisk Uninstaller to attempt to replace your boot and dtbo to stock.
*NOTE: Of course, this is assuming you are running Microsoft Windows (if not, you will need to input .\ as @naiku suggested) and also the whole "device is corrupt" is due to "funky" boot image issues. If not, I/we can guide you to flashing the Full Factory back onto the phone (hopefully without losing data and settings)...
Good luck and hope this helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pleased to be editing this comment; managed to get it working following your step by step. Think i'm going to stay away from rooting something this expensive in the future! Thanks so much!

Jameswebb97 said:
Pleased to be editing this comment; managed to get it working following your step by step. Think i'm going to stay away from rooting something this expensive in the future! Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't go that far with staying away. When I come across people IRL that want to start doing this stuff I always tell them to read the instructions, step through them, read the instructions again, ask questions (as you did here) BEFORE you get started, read the instructions again, and only when you're confident start messing with your device. This is a fun, and at times stressful, hobby. It's great when everything goes according to plan but it's an omg omg omg omg omg omg moment when you mess something up.
Start with baby steps. The straight upgrade to P is fairly simple provided your device is unlocked. Get that working & you'll be set. I have root on my DP3 & the only thing I've done so far is delete some apps from system that I know I don't want/need. If your main goal is to just enjoy your phone, test out Android P, and maybe go back... root isn't needed. Once everything is squared away & you're running for a day or so you can always fastboot to recovery, make a backup, and then try to add root. I hope you don't shy away & get deeper into the hobby. It truly starts to get fun when you begin to understand more of what is going on.

Jameswebb97 said:
Pleased to be editing this comment; managed to get it working following your step by step. Think i'm going to stay away from rooting something this expensive in the future! Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I'm so glad you got it working! Leave me a "Thanks!" would make it up to me ... I'm always happy to help out and get things figured out...yet I don't get the satisfaction of knowing if it does end up helping a lot of the time because a good number don't come back with their experience...so thanks for that! Glad you got it going...
EvilDobe said:
I wouldn't go that far with staying away. When I come across people IRL that want to start doing this stuff I always tell them to read the instructions, step through them, read the instructions again, ask questions (as you did here) BEFORE you get started, read the instructions again, and only when you're confident start messing with your device. This is a fun, and at times stressful, hobby. It's great when everything goes according to plan but it's an omg omg omg omg omg omg moment when you mess something up.
Start with baby steps. The straight upgrade to P is fairly simple provided your device is unlocked. Get that working & you'll be set. I have root on my DP3 & the only thing I've done so far is delete some apps from system that I know I don't want/need. If your main goal is to just enjoy your phone, test out Android P, and maybe go back... root isn't needed. Once everything is squared away & you're running for a day or so you can always fastboot to recovery, make a backup, and then try to add root. I hope you don't shy away & get deeper into the hobby. It truly starts to get fun when you begin to understand more of what is going on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And it's as @EvilDobe means.....
I remember back in the days of the Motorola Droids (OG Droid1, Droid 3, & Droid 4) where you could really mess things up and come out with a big ol' "brick" "paperweight" as there were many instances where you could not come back from (i.e. updating to a certain point, then attempting to downgrade when Google/Motorola/Verizon put blocks that breaks it). But this isn't the case these days. @Jameswebb97, at least with the Pixel 2's, Oreo and/or P(Android OS 9), it's actually more difficult than easy to get that too far gone. The only reason why I can help so many troubleshooting their issues is because I, myself, have wrecked my current device in some serious ways! So I can relate and have experience in helping in the same situations. I've gotten it to where it says "device is corrupt," (which isn't all that uncommon), BUT with the added desperate troubleshooting where I had to wipe/erase, changing partition types, format several partitions, even go about "resizing" the partition to match the "target extraction size" of the Full Factory flash, and even as far as learning to manually flash the various system partitions and that there are two (system_a & system_b) but, in Google's infinite wisdom(?), one flashes to system_a and the other to system_other!!! And I haven't even started on reading others' issues when going after the Slot A and Slot B complications -- I didn't even attempt to touch this in that troubleshooting story.
My point is: I think I've broken my device farther than most people and got it so close to the brink, and yet I was able to bring it back and am still using that same device today (most people would usually, at that point, go and get a RMA replacement). Honestly, as long as you have access to Bootloader Mode (which Google, in their infinite wisdom, seems to have placed it in the main board memory or separate memory rather than storage as to make it always accessible which makes it hard to "lose"), you have a really good (seemingly perfect) "safety net" in which you can always flash back to a working, stock state -- which is why it's the best policy to just make good backups before experimenting so, if anything, you get back to this state and restore all your data. I'm not trying to convince you to root or to try custom ROMs or anything -- even though there are many great reasons and capabilities of rooting -- I am simply appealingl to your sense of curiosity and reassure you so you aren't held back and you don't restrict and limit yourself if you don't want to, but are to fearful to experiment.
I hope you don't take this post as "lecturing" or anything, just some thoughts I hope you consider...
Glad it worked out in the end for you!

adb restore 'ended' without restoring

OK so first of all, if this is the wrong place for this I'm sorry, it's quite late for me and I've been researching how to fix this for about two days and running up with nothing.
I recently upgraded to a Pixel 2XL, loving the device but unfortunately a couple of my apps save data into the data/data part of phone. The only way to then move that over and preserve the data is to use something like adb backup and restore. The backup seems to work fine, but so far every time I try to use restore on my pixel 2xl it 'ends' without actually adding the missing app data across.
I've tried using usb 2 and 3, no difference. I've made sure the usb debugging is on and that my phone is unlocked. I also made sure to try using the commands through both cmd and powershell and that both were in admin mode. I've also tried looking into other options like a friend suggested using es file explorer manager to change the download location, but I wasn't able to puzzle out a way to make something that was in data/data save elsewhere.
My phone isn't rooted, and I'd rather not go that far if I can help it. Any advice or ideas?

Aahhh,"...your phone isn't rooted..."that's probably it/key. I'm unsure whether any kind of "restore" works without root access -- backup of course works because that simply involves "copying" and "storing" files (essentially the basic process of backing up) and, as the system needs to be able to read and access the data, you pretty much have the "read access" to it. Restore on the otherhand, for those who are unaware, are essentially "copying" those stored files and "overwriting" the existing files -- which require "write access". The process of "rooting" is to acquire "root access" which allows both "read/write access" (therefore: "r/w access"). *again, for those who are unaware.
Sorry for just blabbering on about that, I guess I got carried away. In any case, basically (all in all, the reason why I blabbered on) I don't think you're going to go far without root access -- or "rooting" as you say -- but there is one thing I can suggest. When using adb, try running this command first before running any other adb command (i.e. restore):
Code:
adb root
It might just give you enough of that "root access" I was blathering about...
Also, among the all the things you made sure to do and include you made sure of, one thing you didn't mention is making sure you have the most up to date platform-tools (r28.0.1 *at least last I personally saw a few weeks ago).
Good luck to you, hope I made these things somewhat understandable, and hope this helped as well....

Thank you for the suggestions, tried it but no dice sadly. I kinda am hairy on rooting it too as I just got the phone and it's been a long time since I've done android dev work. If you have any other ideas I'd be welcome to hearing them but again thanks for trying.
simplepinoi177 said:
Aahhh,"...your phone isn't rooted..."that's probably it/key. I'm unsure whether any kind of "restore" works without root access -- backup of course works because that simply involves "copying" and "storing" files (essentially the basic process of backing up) and, as the system needs to be able to read and access the data, you pretty much have the "read access" to it. Restore on the otherhand, for those who are unaware, are essentially "copying" those stored files and "overwriting" the existing files -- which require "write access". The process of "rooting" is to acquire "root access" which allows both "read/write access" (therefore: "r/w access"). *again, for those who are unaware.
Sorry for just blabbering on about that, I guess I got carried away. In any case, basically (all in all, the reason why I blabbered on) I don't think you're going to go far without root access -- or "rooting" as you say -- but there is one thing I can suggest. When using adb, try running this command first before running any other adb command (i.e. restore):
Code:
adb root
It might just give you enough of that "root access" I was blathering about...
Also, among the all the things you made sure to do and include you made sure of, one thing you didn't mention is making sure you have the most up to date platform-tools (r28.0.1 *at least last I personally saw a few weeks ago).
Good luck to you, hope I made these things somewhat understandable, and hope this helped as well....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Where your bootloader is apparently unlocked, download a TWRP recovery image to the directory fastboot is in and boot it using the fastboot command "fastboot boot twrp.img". From there, take a nandroid backup of your device. Restoring is done in the same fashion. AND, since TWRP is memory resident when booting it this way, the stock recovery remains untouched.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Where your bootloader is apparently unlocked, download a TWRP recovery image to the directory fastboot is in and boot it using the fastboot command "fastboot boot twrp.img". From there, take a nandroid backup of your device. Restoring is done in the same fashion. AND, since TWRP is memory resident when booting it this way, the stock recovery remains untouched.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great idea! And that's why veterans and those with experience are the best to go to...!

OK so first, thank you so much for all the advice. I've taken awhile to get back to you because this took some time to parse. I'm admittedly kind of a novice at this. So I've used the instructions here https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-install-twrp/ to try and install twrp. I think I did it right, had the zip contents and img file in the same directory that adb is in, then ran the command...and this is what I got back.
N:\platform-tools>fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.2.3-1-taimen.img
Sending 'recovery' (40960 KB) OKAY [ 1.203s]
Writing 'recovery' FAILED (remote: 'Flashing is not allowed in Lock State')
Finished. Total time: 1.219s
as the 'fastboot reboot' command appeared to bring me right back to normal operating for the phone I'm guessing the failed stopped me with that 'flashing not allowed in lock state' there. Am I missing a step?

close, but not exactly right...
you got the downloading platform tools right, and putting the necessary files in that same folder that fastboot.exe resides in also right (you wouldn't believe how many novices actually make the mistake of not doing this)...
but you don't ever (underlined and emphasized not really for you AshtonHunter, but for any who are under the wrong impression; it's caused endless headaches and has even been complained by developers on Twitter...) "fastboot flash" TWRP with Pixels (any; and AFAIK any a/b slotted devices). You boot the twrp .img file. Also, for those who do not know and for future reference, there is no "recovery" for fastboot to "flash" to on Pixels (any), as there no longer is a separate partition for recovery; recovery resides in the boot partition. All in all, the command should be exactly this:
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.3-1-taimen.img
Immediately afterwards, you'll see your Pixel 2 XL restart and load up TWRP...
Good luck to you and hope this helps...

Hey everyone. So I tried this but it also didn't work. Same error 'cannot in locked state' when trying to run the command. I do notice there's a green 'locked' on my phone when it's in the screen after the 'adb reboot bootloader' command. Any ideas?
simplepinoi177 said:
close, but not exactly right...
you got the downloading platform tools right, and putting the necessary files in that same folder that fastboot.exe resides in also right (you wouldn't believe how many novices actually make the mistake of not doing this)...
but you don't ever (underlined and emphasized not really for you AshtonHunter, but for any who are under the wrong impression; it's caused endless headaches and has even been complained by developers on Twitter...) "fastboot flash" TWRP with Pixels (any; and AFAIK any a/b slotted devices). You boot the twrp .img file. Also, for those who do not know and for future reference, there is no "recovery" for fastboot to "flash" to on Pixels (any), as there no longer is a separate partition for recovery; recovery resides in the boot partition. All in all, the command should be exactly this:
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.3-1-taimen.img
Immediately afterwards, you'll see your Pixel 2 XL restart and load up TWRP...
Good luck to you and hope this helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

AshtonHunter said:
OK so first of all,
if this is the wrong place for this I'm sorry, it's quite late for me and I've been researching how to fix this for about two days and running up with nothing.
I recently upgraded to a Pixel 2XL, loving the device but unfortunately a couple of my apps save data into the data/data part of phone. The only way to then move that over and preserve the data is to use something like adb backup and restore. The backup seems to work fine, but so far every time I try to use restore on my pixel 2xl it 'ends' without actually adding the missing app data across.
I've tried using usb 2 and 3, no difference.
I've made sure the usb debugging is on and that my phone is unlocked. I also made sure to try using the commands through both cmd and powershell and that both were in admin mode. I've also tried
looking into other options like a friend suggested using es file explorer manager to change the download location, but I wasn't able to puzzle out a way to make something that was in data/data save elsewhere.
My phone isn't rooted, and I'd rather not go that far if I can help it. Any advice or ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AshtonHunter said:
Hey everyone. So I tried this but it also didn't work. Same error 'cannot in locked state' when trying to run the command. I do notice there's a green 'locked' on my phone when it's in the screen after the 'adb reboot bootloader' command. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would only get this error if your device isn't "unlocked"... I/we were all under the impression that (which is why I quoted) your device is "unlocked"... So maybe some clarification is in order...
There are two types of "unlocking" that can be attributed to the device; 1) your device can be "locked" to a carrier or global region, and it can be "unlocked" so the device can be used on any network anywhere, and 2) all Pixel's (and all smartphones AFAIK) have their bootloader in a locked state, and in order to do any kind of "rooting" or data restore/recovery or modification down to the system level you have to "unlock" the bootloader or have it in an "unlocked" state.
*BEWARE! Before running these commands, please note that running critical will erase/wipe EVERYTHING -- I am pretty sure running both will actually cause this to happen.
Considering all of this, when you said your "...phone is unlocked", you are speaking in terms of #2 I listed above, correct? Basically, you have run the command -- while in Bootloader Mode -- "fastboot flashing unlock" & (just as important, imho) "fastboot flashing unlock_critical", right? Because, if you haven't done these, then your device was never "unlocked" (in the sense that most relates to us and what you are intending) as well as without having one these commands, you had no chance at restoring your /data folder or partition "data" (pun not intended).
After clearing any misunderstanding and/or issues of these type, we might be able to better help after that point...but it is looking like you may need to root or at least do the same steps towards that end to accomplish what you are seeking...
So, get back to me/us on this, and hope this all helps...

Ok! So after confirming I could do it without any issue and having a day of time to work on it, my phone's bootloader is now unlocked and I've managed a backup using TWRP. Only thing now is I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking at and how in here. Advice is welcome but I'm going to be digging into it myself to see if I can puzzle it out with some friends of mine online. Also just again thank you all for all the assistance. I would have never gotten this far with it without you all!

AshtonHunter said:
Ok! So after confirming I could do it without any issue and having a day of time to work on it, my phone's bootloader is now unlocked and I've managed a backup using TWRP. Only thing now is I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking at and how in here. Advice is welcome but I'm going to be digging into it myself to see if I can puzzle it out with some friends of mine online. Also just again thank you all for all the assistance. I would have never gotten this far with it without you all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly are you wanting to do now that your bootloader is unlocked, and you have twrp? Can I assume you want to root it?

AshtonHunter said:
Ok! So after confirming I could do it without any issue and having a day of time to work on it, my phone's bootloader is now unlocked and I've managed a backup using TWRP. Only thing now is I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking at and how in here. Advice is welcome but I'm going to be digging into it myself to see if I can puzzle it out with some friends of mine online. Also just again thank you all for all the assistance. I would have never gotten this far with it without you all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you were successfully able to get it done! (clicking a "Thanks!" would be all I would welcome in return)
So, now, you might be able to successfully do what you originally did and restore through adb if you wish...I mean, if you simply have a /data folder that's been backed up, there might not be too many options available for you. Another thing you might try is running a custom recovery (TWRP I believe is the best or only) and restoring -- and/or backing up from your old device/phone, wiping everything, setting phone up, then use that TWRP backup to restore -- but you can only really run a restore if it was a TWRP backup to begin with... One other good way is running a Titanium Backup backup and restoring that way...
Good luck and hope this helps...

please help
simplepinoi177 said:
Aahhh,"...your phone isn't rooted..."that's probably it/key. I'm unsure whether any kind of "restore" works without root access -- backup of course works because that simply involves "copying" and "storing" files (essentially the basic process of backing up) and, as the system needs to be able to read and access the data, you pretty much have the "read access" to it. Restore on the otherhand, for those who are unaware, are essentially "copying" those stored files and "overwriting" the existing files -- which require "write access". The process of "rooting" is to acquire "root access" which allows both "read/write access" (therefore: "r/w access"). *again, for those who are unaware.
Sorry for just blabbering on about that, I guess I got carried away. In any case, basically (all in all, the reason why I blabbered on) I don't think you're going to go far without root access -- or "rooting" as you say -- but there is one thing I can suggest. When using adb, try running this command first before running any other adb command (i.e. restore):
Code:
adb root
It might just give you enough of that "root access" I was blathering about...
Also, among the all the things you made sure to do and include you made sure of, one thing you didn't mention is making sure you have the most up to date platform-tools (r28.0.1 *at least last I personally saw a few weeks ago).
Good luck to you, hope I made these things somewhat understandable, and hope this helped as well....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry in advance, I'm not very familiar with this webiste.
Im in a similar situation where it wont let me restore my adb backup, I am rooted and the bootloader is unlocked (though twrp is not installed). could you please help, i beg you.